JD500,000 to be spent on Jaber crossing maintenance

AMMAN — The Lower House’s Public Service and Transportation Committee, led by MP Khaled Abu Hassan, on Tuesday commended the government’s responsiveness to the committee’s demands with regard to the maintenance and rehabilitation of the Jaber/Nasib border crossing.

The parliamentary committee’s demands included the disbursement of JD500,000 before the end of 2018, with the aim of floating a tender for the maintenance and rehabilitation of facilities and yards at the border crossing centre, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The remarks came during a meeting held by the committee, in the presence of Interior Minister Samir Mubaidin, Finance Minister Ezzeddine Kanakrieh, Housing Minister Falah Omoush and the Director General of Jordan Customs Department Abdulmajid Alrahamneh.

The committee also recommended that the opening hours of the crossing be increased to mitigate the pressure resulting from rising numbers of people entering and exiting the Kingdom through the crossing, while maintaining the necessity of priorotising security.

Mubaidin noted, however, that the opening hours were set by the Syrian side, stressing that the government had considered security as the highest priority in regard to the reopening of the border.

Mubaidin pointed out that the number of departures and arrivals through the Jaber border crossing centre since its reopening on October 15, amounted to about 75,000, Al Rai daily newspaper reported on Tuesday.